The 3-element 40-6M
SteppIR on the U.S. Towers MA40 (with MAF raising fixture
and MARB rotating base) about 5 minutes after the installation
was complete on May 2, 2009.

While I was at it, I replaced the aging RG-8 coax with a good-quality
RG213, and removed about 10 feet of unused mast above the
antenna (eliminating at least 20 lbs of top-end weight and
a square-foot of windload).

After
a couple of years of frustration with the Mosley Classic-33 (PDF)
trapped triband beam, on March 31, 2009, I called Fluidmotion
and ordered a SteppIR antenna.

The
antenna arrived ahead of schedule on April 24. I spent a week building
and double-checking things, and it was in the air at 1810z on May
2, 2009.

First
contact was with T70A
(San Marino) on 20M phone, during the ARI DX contest at 2043z
on May 2.

The
old antenna

The
CL-33 was a great antenna for a new contester. I honed my skills
on it since first putting it up in September 2004, making many tens
of thousands of contacts mostly in CW and RTTY contests. The CL-33
is good for CW or Phone bands, but not
both. As I am now interested in more than a few SSB contests each
year, I need something that can be used across the CW and phone
bands. I have the CL-33 set for CW, and would never have a phone-band-only
antenna.

Also,
the CL-33 is a trapped tribander. The design of 3 elements on an
18-foot boom produces very good gain, but the traps reduce that
gain. Some say each set of traps in an antenna system can reduce
gain by as much as 1 dB.

"G6XN
calculates that the loss for an input of 100 watts in the driven
element traps is 25 watts and that in the parasitic elements to
be 18 Watts, a total loss of 3.06 dB for a three ele tribander."

The
SteppIR has none of these losses, takes full legal power, tunes
to (or close to) 1:1 SWR everywhere, and provides max gain wherever
you operate -- not just in one sweet-spot on each band (something
no antenna with fixed-length elements can do). With the Classic-33
set for the CW portion of 20M, I can't operate in the Phone band
where the SWR soars far above 3:1 -- running high power for long
into that mismatch would soon burn up the coax feedline.

Here
are the specs of the two antennas, according to their manufacturers:

Classic-33

SteppIR
3-el.

Band

Forward
dBd

F/B

Forward
dBi

Forward
dBd

F/R

40M

-

-

1.8

-0.35

-

30M

-

-

2.1

-0.05

-

20M

7.3

23

7.4

5.25

25

17M

-

-

8.3

6.15

25

15M

8.1

23

8.5

6.35

20

12M

-

-

8.8

6.65

15

10M

8.5

20

9.0

6.85

11

6M

-

-

10.1

7.95

30

The Mosley specs are cited in dBd (gain over a dipole).
These figures do not include trap losses, which are expected
to be 0 dB on 10M, 1.5 dB on 15M, and as much as 3 dB on
20M.

The
6M figures for the SteppIR assume the 6M passive element
is installed.

While
the Mosley Classic-33 specs show front-to-back
rejection, the SteppIR specs show front-to-rear.

Enter
the SteppIR

Those
who have used the SteppIR 3-element antenna swear by it. At the
BCDX Club meeting on Vancouver Island, in September 2008, I had
a long chat with Ralph, VE7XF, who recommended the 3-element as
solid contesting gear. Ralph consistently beats me in contests,
so I figure he must be right.

I
ordered the 3-element plus 40M/30M dipole. This will give me good
performance across all bands from 40M to 6M.

Aside
from the inherent benefits of low SWR, max gain where you want it
(everywhere), and high efficiency, the most important operational
feature to me is the ability to almost instantly (within a couple
of seconds) reverse the direction of the antenna.

From
B.C., there are many times in a contest weekend when it is useful
to be able to work two directions at once (bidirectional mode),
or move forward and back 180-degrees. Instances include mornings
when Europe and W6 are calling at the same time, or Japan and the
Caribbean. Just being able to quickly "flip" to KH6 or
UA0 for the mult while running South American stations means more
points in the log.

The
new SDA-100 controller

SteppIR
says my order should ship in about four weeks (estimate: end of
April). However, I also ordered the upgraded controller -- the SDA-100
-- which could add another week or two, as the Dream Beam 36 orders
come with this controller as standard equipment and Fluidmotion
is still filling a few final backorders on the DB36.

The
SDA-100 controller provides a few new features, including a user-adjustable
auto-tracking interval (so the antenna retunes every 50 khz, or
150 khz, etc.), a USB port for downloadable firmware updates (the
old controller required a chip replacement), and better static immunity,
which apparently was a weak point with the old controller. For the
extra $100 upgrade fee, I figured it was a good investment in having
the latest model.

The
manual indicates that a tuning relay (preventing an amp from kicking
in while the antenna is retuning) is an available option, though
details aren't yet available.

The
package of equipment I ordered includes:

SteppIR
3-element yagi

30M/40M
dipole trombone element

Passive
6M element

SDA-100
controller

Transceiver
interface

12-conductor
control cable (100')

Y-cable
for rig and computer control

Transceiver
cable (S18 for FT-2000)

Making
the decision:
Dream Beam DB18, or 3-el. plus 30M/40M?

Choosing
the SteppIR 3-element was not a difficult decision. User reports
are almost all very positive -- perhaps even glowing with enthusiasm.
My most difficult decision was whether or not to wait for the pending
Dream Beam DB18, which has two elements on 40M, on an 18-foot boom.

At
about CDN$1,200 more than the 3-element + 30M/40M dipole, the DB18's
additional features are an extra 30M/40M element (it's just CDN$500
to get one as an add-on to a basic SteppIR model), a slightly longer
boom to accommodate the additional trombone element, and the special
relay switching to make it all work.

The
2-element, 16'-boom yagi on 30M and 40M delivers significantly more
performance than a dipole, but has about 10 sq. ft. of windload
-- which is above the max load my small U.S. Tower will carry. I
could have lived with that (the tower is usually cranked down anyway),
but then there was the undefined wait-time for the DB18.

SteppIR
is only taking wait-list requests right now (April 2009), as the
DB18 is not yet in production. Some reports say orders will start
in mid-May at the Dayton Hamvention -- with delivery a few months
after that. Here in B.C.'s Interior, if I don't have the antenna
in the air by late October, I would have to wait until April to
raise it. That would be a long, hard winter with a box in the garage.

Rather
than wait perhaps as long as a year, and pay $1,200 more for an
antenna that would be the same as a 3-element on 20M through 10M,
I decided to just go with the 3-element plus single 40/30 dipole.

I'd
love to have the higher gain on 40M and 30M, but with a max. height
here of 45' (that's 42' + 3' of sturdy mast height), that gain wouldn't
do justice to a 2-element yagi (gain at typical take-off angles
to Europe, for example, would be modest), yet the heavier, higher-load
antenna would put much more stress on the tower. So, I will use
the SteppIR 30/40 dipole at 45' to work what I can at that low height,
and if necessary continue to work on my 40M vertical arrays for
long-haul DX on that band.

After
all, I can buy a LOT of coax and relays for phasing my wire verticals
with the $1,200 I'm saving, hi.

Here
are some representative charts showing the performance of the SteppIR
40M dipole at various heights at this QTH, which has about 300'
of elevation drop-off to Europe and much of North America.

The
chart above shows the SteppIR 40M dipole performance aiming at Europe
from this QTH -- at antenna heights of 30'
(tower cranked down), at 45' (tower
up), and the reference at 70'
(1/2-wavelength) over flat countryside.

The
dipole at 45' will average about 2.1 dBi to Europe over all the
expected angles of arrival, with a useful peak of about 5 dBi at
5 degrees elevation.

At
all arrival angles of 6 degrees and lower, it will perform better
than at 70' over flat terrain.

The
30'-high dipole will average -0.4 dBi over most angles, with a max
gain of about 3 dBi at some low and useful angles.

The
70'-high dipole to Europe over flat terrain would have an average
gain of about 0.8 dBi.

The
chart above shows the SteppIR 40M dipole performance aiming at the
U.S. from this QTH -- at antenna heights of 30'
(tower cranked down), at 45' (tower
up), and the reference at 70'
(1/2-wavelength) over flat countryside.

The
dipole at 45' will perform as well as or better than a dipole at
70' over flat terrain at most takeoff angles, with a few exceptions
at some specific angles (where the red line dips lower than the
green line).

To the U.S., the dipole at 45' will average about 5 dBi over all
the angles of arrival over time -- the same 5 dBi average as a dipole
at 70' over flat terrain. At 30' it will average about 3.5 dBi.

Shipping
Diary

March
31, 2009

Faxed
order to Fluid Motion

April
17, 2009

Received
notice by e-mail that my order was ready to ship via UPS. Credit
card charged.

April
21, 2009

Received
UPS e-mail notices that three packages were on the way, for
delivery on April 23. This was a wonderful surprise from Fluid
Motion, as the estimate at order time was three to four weeks,
plus perhaps a week for the upgraded SDA-100 controller.

April
22, 2009

Called
UPS 1-800 to request that the packages be held at the local
Customer Center rather than delivered to my home on April
23 (nobody home to pay the Canadian tax and UPS brokerage
fees).

I
was told they can't do that. The first delivery attempt has
to be made to the ship-to address, but after that I can request
a hold.

April
23, 2009

Today
was the scheduled delivery date. I arrived home from work
to find a yellow UPS note on the front door. They were here,
but with a COD package, they needed payment and a signature.
No kidding, Sherlock.

I
visited the UPS Customer Center in town, only to be informed
my packages were actually being delivered by Purolator (who
does UPS's residential deliveries in our community).

April
24, 2009

Left
work at 3:45 p.m. and drove to the Purolator shipping warehouse,
which is about half a mile from where I work. They don't have
a customer desk, but I went into the adminstrative office
and explained that I was expecting a delivery that would need
COD fees paid.

They
checked the computer and said the packages were on a truck
for delivery, but if I waited a few minutes, the driver would
be back for the day. I paid the fees -- $460 in taxes and
UPS brokerage charges -- and went to my car to wait.

As
I dialed my cell phone to call my wife, I happened to glance
at the open door of the loading dock. There was a big box
with the SteppIR logo on it. A big box, and another smaller
one next to it. And a little one -- that would be package
number three.

I
grinned about as wide as Texas, and asked my wife to bring
the van as my car couldn't carry the largest of the boxes.

Got
it all home by 4:30 p.m. -- just three weeks from the day
I placed my order with Fluid Motion.

If
I had not intervened by going to the shipping center, I would
have waited until Monday to receive my SteppIR -- and only
by being at home all day and ditching work, which I would
never do because I like my job (hi boss).

I
say this every time I get hosed by UPS, but I will never choose
to use UPS again unless there are no other options. They simply
lack logistic convenience for residential recipients. Alas,
there rarely are options.

Unless
you are retired or can otherwise be at home all day on the
expected delivery date, don't use UPS to ship an item across
the border from the U.S. to Canada (i.e. that you'll have
to sign for or pay fees upon delivery). If you don't stay
home on delivery day, expect to pick up your package at least
one day after that, or a whole weekend if the first attempt
was on Friday. And goodness knows what company will actually
attempt to deliver the package to your door -- you'll have
to play Inspector Morse before you ever track down your shipment.
[rant off]

SteppIR
Yahoo! Group
Have a question about SteppIR antennas? Here's the place to ask
it. While waiting for my order to be filled, I skimmed through nearly
24,000 posts since the group started in early 2002. Quite a real-world
tutorial on the SteppIR.

My
Hex Beam Project
Read the construction details for a homebrew hex-style beam. This
is a super performer -- if you want all five upper HF bands, or
don't have the wingspan room for a spider beam or other large-format
tribander.

Spider
Beam Group on YahooA spider beam hot spot. See what other homebrewers
(and spider beam kit builders) are doing to get great signals on
20m, 15m and 10m.

DF4SA
Spider Beam Site
Information about the spider beam from its inventor, Con DF4SA.
See how he has used this outstanding antenna to win CQWW contests
from Portugal. The
spider beam is a serious antenna that, in my opinion, is destined
to be one of the most popular homebrewed tribanders.